Historically, the sugar cane plant has been cultivated for its sweetness. This sweetness is a result of the relatively high concentration of sucrose in the plant. Throughout history, man has worked to extract and then purify the sucrose contained in the juice by using various methods considered to be the best available at the time as evidence, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 118,524; 498,000; 1,532,271; 2,568,925; 2,712,552; 3,313,655; 3,511,705 and 3,812,010.
Today, the juice is extracted from the plant and subsequently processed using techniques which will maximize the yield of sucrose. In order to accomplish this, the sugar industry has attempted to minimize sucrose inversion in all phases of their operations. Inversion is the common term used to describe the chemical breakdown of sucrose, a disaccharide, into its corresponding mono-saccharides of glucose and fructose. Traditionally, cane planting, harvesting, handling and transporting along with juice extraction and purification is accomplished with the intent of minimizing sucrose inversion. The importance of this effort is realized since the glucose and fructose produced by such inversion can not be crystallized from the juice and therefore, will be discharged from the process as a by-product. In addition, these compounds will increase the sucrose solubility in the by-product resulting in even greater sucrose loss. The by-product of traditional cane juice purification is referred to as Blackstrap Mollasses.
The second product currently being manufactured from sugar cane juice is "High Test" or "Fancy Molasses". The production of the product from cane juice is a very old process. The basic steps in its manufacture include clarification with lime, filtration then evaporation to a solids level of about 60%. The dark, aromatic smelling juice, or syrup as it is referred to at that solids level, is then intentionally inverted to a predetermined point and evaporated to 85% solids. A typical analysis of this type product would be: 85% total solids in solution, 27% sucrose on a dry basis, 50% invert sugars on dry basis, 2.25% ash on a dry basis, and 5.75% organic non-sugars on a dry basis. High Test or Fancy Molasses is produced instead of raw sugar and never in conjunction with it.
It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide a process of producing a finished sugar product directly from cane juice that will meet or exceed existing standards for pure sugar.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a process for purifying carbohydrates contained in cane juice without manufacturing raw sugar and molasses.
These and other objects of the present invention will be more apparent from the discussion which follows.